I waited until they
were all out of breath, and then I said I had not bothered about
invoices. I knew pretty well the prices such things cost in England.
I clapped on so much more for the expenses of the voyage and a fair
profit. I could tell them what I had paid for the figs and the
currants, and for some bags of Smyrna sponges I had bought, but as to
the prices I had charged, it was too much to expect that I could
carry them in my head. All I knew was I had paid for the things I had
bought, I had paid all the port dues and other charges, I had
advanced the men one-fourth of their wages each month, and I had
brought them back the balance.
"Such a hubbub you never heard. One would have thought they would
have gone raving mad. The sanctimonious partner was the worst of the
lot. He threatened me with the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, and went
on till I thought he would have had a fit.
"Look here, says I, at last, I'll tell you what I will do. You tell
me what the cargo cost you altogether, and put on so much for the
hire of the ship. I will pay you for them and settle up with the
crew, and take the cargo and sell it. That is a fair offer. And I
advise you to keep civil tongues in your heads, or I will knock them
off and take my chance before the Lord Mayor for assault and battery.
"With that I took off my coat and laid it on a bench. I reckon they
saw that I was in earnest, and they just sat as mum as mice. Then the
little man said, in a quieter sort of voice,--
"'You are too hasty, Captain Dowsett.
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